Luggage fastener

ABSTRACT

A luggage fastener comprising a female engagement member and a male engagement member, wherein the female engagement member includes a recessed center adjoining member, which can be directly riveted onto the luggage. In securing the male and female engagement members, the hooks of the male engagement member are inserted into the sockets of the female engagement member, while the attachment member is inserted into the adjoining member by guiding the ribs on the male engagement member along the grooves on the female engagement member. Two L-shaped openings at the rear ends of the sockets further facilitate a quick unfastening of the secured engagement members. The benefits of this invention include the elimination of the fabric strap, the reduction of part of the female engagement member, and the resulting material savings as compared to the conventional design of the prior art.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to the field of luggage and more particularly to a luggage fastener with many improved characteristics.

[0003] 2. Description of Related Art

[0004] A conventional luggage fastener, which comprises a female engagement member A and a male engagement member B, is shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. The female engagement member A includes a slot-like aperture A1, two side openings A2, and a front opening A3. A fabric strap C1 with one end secured to the top of the luggage is looped through the slot-like aperture A1 at the other end. The male engagement member B includes a slot-like aperture B1 at its rear end, two spaced front flexible hooks B2 extended down from the slot-like aperture B1, and two hook-shaped attachment members B3 sandwiched between the two hooks B2. A fabric strap C2 with one end looped through the slot-like aperture B1 and the other end secured to the hook H is provided, wherein an extra carriage, such as a separate bag or an attache case (not shown), can be laid on the hook H and carried by the user.

[0005] As shown in FIG. 1A, the two hooks B2 and the two hook-shaped attachment members B3 of the male engagement member B are inserted into the front opening A3 of the female engagement member A to secure the two engagement members together. In other words, the two hooks B2 on the male engagement member B are secured into the recesses A21 of the openings A2 on the female engagement member by their own outward expansion force after they are elastically compressed by the user. While attempting to disengage the male engagement member B from the female engagement member A, the user may first use his/her thumb and index finger to squeeze the exposed hooks B2, making them deform inward, then use the other hand to pull the male engagement member B out of the female engagement member A.

[0006] The previous design suffers from several disadvantages. For example, the fabric strap C1 is secured to the top of the luggage by a rivet, wherein the fabric strap C1 is redundant and the fastening process for securing the fabric strap C1 to the luggage body is not a labor-saving design. The device, which is provided to combine the fabric strap C1 to the female engagement member A, is also unnecessary. Also, the fabric strap C1 and the female engagement member A dangles on top of the luggage when the luggage fastener is not in use. Furthermore, the improper integration design of the openings A2 and the slot-like aperture A1 often causes inconvenience to the user when he/she tries to disengage the male engagement member B from the female engagement member A, as the frontal heads of the two hooks B2 on the male engagement member B are not easily squeezed by the user's thumb and index finger. In addition, the user generally has to exert much force to achieve the above-mentioned disengagement operation due to the inappropriate width of the slotlike aperture A1.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a luggage fastener with a female engagement member directly fixed to the luggage so that the fabric strap of the prior art is eliminated. With this new design, the female engagement member will not dangle on the luggage when the luggage fastener is not in use.

[0008] Another object of the present invention is to provide a luggage fastener which, by eliminating the fabric strap, has the advantage of making the fastening and unfastening process easier.

[0009] A further object of the present invention is to provide a luggage fastener which, by eliminating the fabric strap, has the advantage of reducing the total length of the male engagement member and the female engagement member by about one third, thus saving fastener manufacturing material.

[0010] The above and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description made in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011]FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a conventional fastener disposed on the luggage where a male engagement member and a female engagement member are disengaged;

[0012]FIG. 1B is an environmental view showing a user who is using his/her fingers to squeeze inward the exposed hooks of FIG. 1A;

[0013]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the disengaged luggage fastener according to the invention;

[0014]FIG. 3 is an environmental view showing a user who is using his/her fingers to squeeze the assembled fastener of FIG. 2; and

[0015]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the luggage fastener of the present invention disposed on a luggage piece where a male engagement member and a female engagement member are disengaged.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0016] FIGS. 2 to 4 show a luggage fastener constructed in accordance with the present invention comprising a female engagement member 10 and a male engagement member 20, wherein the female engagement member 10 is directly fixed to the luggage body to eliminate the fabric strap and the slot-like aperture of the prior art. Thus, the female engagement member 10 will not dangle on the outer surface of the luggage when the luggage fastener is not in use. Furthermore, the length of the female engagement member 10 is reduced by about 40% due to the elimination of the slot-like aperture, and consequently saving about 45% of the manufacturing material due to the provision of the hollow adjoining member as compared to the prior art.

[0017] As shown in FIG. 2, the female engagement member 10 is a hollow body which comprises a center adjoining member 11 at the bottom, two bottom holes 12 provided for allowing the luggage fastener to be threadedly secured to the luggage body, two grooves 13 adjacent to the two bottom holes 12, two open-ended sockets 14 abutting the grooves 13, and two L-shaped openings 15 provided at the front end of the two sockets 14. Each of two L-shaped openings has two flat protrusion surfaces 151 at the front and a smooth rounded surface 152 at the rear.

[0018] The new male engagement member 20 has a slot-like aperture section 21 at its rear end, two spaced front flexible hooks 22 extended from the slot-like aperture section 21, and a tongue-shaped attachment member 23, which is integrated with the slot-like aperture section 21 and disposed between the two hooks 22, wherein the attachment member 23 has two side ribs 25 and a front extension 26.

[0019] When the user attempts to secure the male engagement member 20 to the female engagement member 10, the hooks 22 are inserted into the sockets 14, while the extension 26 and the attachment member 23 are inserted into the adjoining member 11 by guiding the ribs 25 along the grooves 13. The male engagement member 20 is secured to the female engagement member 10 when the extension 26 and the attachment member 23 are received into the hollow space of the adjoining member 11.

[0020] Since the two flexible frontal hooks 22 of the male engagement member 20 are the most advanced and protrusive sections on the male and female coupling member's engagement portions, it is very easy for the user to manually squeeze the two frontal hooks 22, thus disengaging the male engagement member 20 from the female engagement member 10.

[0021] The benefits of this invention are:

[0022] 1. The elimination of the fabric strap, which dangles loose when the fastener is not in use.

[0023] 2. The omission of the slot-like aperture of the prior art, which was used for securing the female engagement member to the fabric strap.

[0024] 3. The elimination of the slot-like aperture and the flat rear sides of the openings when disengaging the male engagement member from the female engagement member saves labor for the user.

[0025] 4. Material savings resulting from the dual enforcement of items 1 and 2 listed above.

[0026] 5. Easy fastening.

[0027] While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those who are skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A luggage fastener comprising: a male engagement member including a rear slot-like aperture, two spaced front flexible hooks extended from the slot-like aperture, and a tongue-shaped attachment member integrated with the slot-like aperture disposed between the two spaced front flexible hooks; and a hollow female engagement member fixed directly onto the luggage, including an adjoining member at a bottom, two open-ended sockets on the sides, and two L-shaped openings at rear ends of the sockets to facilitate the squeezing operation to the flexible hooks of the male engagement member by hand; wherein during the securing of the male engagement member to the female engagement member, the hooks of the male engagement member are inserted into the sockets of the female engagement member and the tongue-shaped attachment member of the male engagement member is inserted into the adjoining member of the female engagement member.
 2. The luggage fastener of claim 1 , wherein each of the L-shaped openings has a flat inner surface at the rear.
 3. The luggage fastener of claim 1 , wherein each of the L-shaped openings has a rounded outer surface at the rear and the adjoining member has a rounded inner surface at the rear.
 4. The luggage fastener of claim 1 , wherein the female engagement member further comprises two holes for allowing the luggage fastener to be threadedly secured onto the luggage.
 5. The luggage fastener of claim 1 , wherein the attachment member on the male engagement member includes two side ribs and a front extension and the female engagement member further comprises two grooves such that the ribs are guided along the grooves when the engagement between the male and female engagement members occurs. 